thto fight chronic. osteoarthritis pain. to fight chronic low back pain. to take action. to take the next step. today, you will know you did something for your pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is a pain reliever fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. anti-depressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not for children under 18. people taking maois, linezolid or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing skin or eyes. tell your doctor about all your medicines, including those for migraine and while on cymbalta, call right away if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles or serious allergic

skin reactions like blisters, peeling rash, hives, or mouth sores to address possible life-threatening conditions. talk about your alcohol use, liver disease and before you reduce or stop cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. take the next step. talk to your doctor. cymbalta can help. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," march comes in like a lion. >> earlier on we were almost in what we called a dry slot. there was kind of a break between the precipitation. you were getting hammered, we weren't getting anything except for drizzle and snow, so snizzle. >> snizzle no more, it's definitely snowing here now. you're looking at live pictures of a sort of snowy white house. the weather channel's jim cantore will join us in a moment with the very latest and a vocabulary lesson. and guess who's coming to

dinner, well, 11 republican senators will break bread with president obama tonight. it's all part of the white house's new effort to go around republican leadership to get a big deal done. and in venezuela, the end of an era, president hugo chavez's coffin brought out on to the street as his country mourns. we'll go live to caracas, plus -- >> i thought i was saying no. >> well, then i am glad. after much gymnastics, i am glad to hear it is the opinion of the department of justice it would be unconstitutional to kill a u.s. citizen on u.s. soil if that individual did not pose an imminent threat. >> that was attorney general eric holder in the hot seat today after initially ruling out a drone strike against american citizens on u.s. soil. plus, live pictures here of kentucky republican senator rand paul on the floor of the senate in what his staff has dubbed

fili-blizzard. fill busting brennan's nomination as cia director. plus, gabby giffords returns to the tucson supermarket where she was shot to call for tougher gun laws. good day from a snowy washington, i'm chris cillizza in for andrea mitchell. the storm that dumped half a foot or more of snow in the midwest is also hitting the east coast. the storm has forced school closures, flight cancellations, and even prompted congress to change its schedule, moving up today's budget vote. this is how it looks in washington right now, where so far the areas outside of the capitol beltway are seeing the worst of it. weather channel's jim cantore joins me live now from washington. looks like capitol hill there, jim, what's the latest? >> it's hard to believe. there's 20 inches of snow 100 miles to my west on the ground. we've got 100,000 people in the state of virginia alone without

power. that's because of the heavy wet snow and the wind, which you can see here pretty well. it's just kind of swaying these big trees around. that's really been the biggest issue. we've had bouts of rain, bouts of snow right here at the hill, but nothing that has at least hung around long enough to stick. you know, believe it or not, even in march, even on a cloudy, rainy, miserable day like this is when you're soaked to the bone like yours truly, we are getting absorption by this asphalt. we looked with a laser thermometer, 60 degrees. 60 in the asphalt, takes a heavy period of snow to cool that down. we just haven't had that here. go 25 miles to my west, five inches of snow. another 25 miles, eight to ten inches of snow on the ground. another 25 miles and there's almost two feet of snow on the ground. big difference, of course, you're changing in elevation, too. down here, though, sitting at

maybe 70 feet. we're doing just fine here. unless we really get a heavy band of snow, which is hard to do in the daytime over the east wind, i don't think that we're going to have too many problems. of course, they shut down the schools, the government, and the airports have virtually no flights coming in and out of the d.c. area. all is good here at this point. back to you. >> jim, let me ask you one quick thing as we look forward, it appears this storm maybe less than advertised, at least in that kind of internal d.c. close suburbs area. new york, boston, the next 24, 36, 48 hours, can this thing build back and some of what we're seeing west of us, could they see some of that up north? >> the only saving grace for new york and boston in terms of additional snowfall will be the fact they have a little more cold air than we do. all right, same dynamics, little bit more cold air. maybe that will be the difference in, say, a three to

five-inch storm for new york and for boston versus at least one here inside the beltway that's sitting at about one to three inches. again, dulles points west, absolutely hammered. they'll deal with the same thing in upstate new york, as well as into western massachusetts. back to you. >> remarkable. thank you, jim. a divided venezuela is in mourning today after the death of long-time president hugo chavez, who lost his battle with cancer on tuesday at the age of 58. chavez dominated the country for 14 years after he swept to power with his socialist revolution. he endured as a hero of venezuela's poor, who felt he empowered them by nationalizing the country's vast oil resources. over the years of his presidency, he made plenty of enemies, who criticized the tight grip he kept on his country. today, his coffin was carried through the streets of caracas. that's where we find msnbc's

mark potter. what is the latest from venezuela? >> reporter: hi, chris, that procession has been going on for several hours now. it's making its way very, very slowly through huge crowds in downtown caracas as hugo chavez's casket is being moved from the military hospital where he died to the military academy where he once attended and he will lie in state until his funeral on friday. along the miles-long route, thousands and thousands of people are crowding in on the casket, wanting to pay their respects to the fallen leader. wanting to express their gratitude to the 14-year president who just lost his two-year battle with cancer. in this very divided country, chavez, of course, had many, many enemies, but the poor were his strongest supporters, and they are certainly out in force today by the thousands, if not tens or more thousands. a huge crowd out there. many are dressed in his trademark color, bright red. smo some are festive and

cheering, others are crying as the casket goes by. for part of the time the parade was led by nicolas madoro, the vice president of this country, chavez's hand-picked successor. today begins a seven-day mourning period in venezuela. that will be followed in a month or so by an election, presidential election, to pick his successor. you can bet that's an election that will be followed very closely by officials in the united states. chris? >> thanks, mark. i know with the funeral friday, we'll be staying on the story. thank you. president obama goes on a charm offensive starting tonight. he's having dinner with 11 republican senators and is scheduling more meetings with house and senate republicans on capitol hill next week. so, dare i say it, is a grand bargain in sight again? joining me now to talk about it, maryland congressman chris van holland, ranking member of the house budget committee. congressman, thank you for your time. busy day today. >> good to be with you, chris.

>> thanks. can you talk about the president we're seeing is having dinner tonight with republican senators. i know paul ryan, your colleague on the budget committee, got a call from the president, he said, this week. some more meetings with the president coming up to capitol hill expected next week. is this a charm offensive, is this the president changing tactics, and regardless of what it is, do you expect a different result than we've seen when we've gone down the grand bargain road in the past? >> well, chris, i don't think it's a change in the sense that the president has been trying to reach out all along, but most of that outreach has been to the house republican leadership. now you have people like speaker boehner saying, you know, he doesn't want to have these one-on-one meetings with the president anymore, so the president is reaching out to other folks within the republican caucuses in both the house and the senate. makes a lot of sense, and i do hope that as a result of this, we'll finally be able to come up with a balanced approach. we still have a long way to go,

but there are certain things that are aligning that could produce that result. so, let's see. >> now, congressman, i want to play something that mitch mcconnell, the senate republican leader, had to say yesterday about the president's outreach. then i want to come back and talk about it. let's play that. >> i expect the president to talk to various members. frankly, i wish he'd done more of that over the years. we've had, all of us, very limited interaction with the president, and he's certainly doesn't have to go through me to call on my members. >> so, congressman, i have two questions for you. one is, is senator mcconnell right in his criticism the president hasn't done enough outreach to republican members and has the president not done enough outreach to democratic members in terms of selling his agenda? >> i think the president has done enough outreach to democratic members and republican members.

senator mcconnell was the one who said his number one objective was defeat the president in the reelection rather than focus on jobs and the economy. it was very hard in that environment for the president to get things done. as senator mcconnell just recently said, it's great the president is reaching out to my republican members, but he has sent out word they should not agree to anything that includes additional revenue, even as part of a balanced plan that also includes cuts. look, i think the president deserves great credit for saying he's going to reach out to every member of congress. if their leaders don't want to come down and meet with him in the white house, the president's willing to meet with others in the white house and the president's willing to come down to capitol hill. it just shows he's absolutely determined to get something dope to break through the dysfunction and get a compromise. >> congressman, i want to ask you one more quickly. my colleagues at "the washington post" over the weekend published a piece how president obama is looking at the 2014 midterm

elections in taking back the house, keeping the senate as critical to his legacy. that piece has drawn criticism from republicans who say, look, this is a president playing p l polit politics. too early for the president to be talking about the 2014 midterms and his legacy, or not? >> what the president's talking about, chris, is trying to accomplish the agenda that he ran on in the last presidential election. and the point he's made is he would like to do this in partnership with republicans, whether it's immigration reform or gun safety or dealing with the budget, but his number one priority is to follow through on the promises and commitments he made. and so right now he's reaching out to republicans, as we were just talking. look, i want to compromise with you. but it's also important to have a back-up plan and for people to know his number one priority is to meet those commitments he made to the middle class in this country, to make sure we strengthen the middle class, keep our commitments to seniors,

invest in our future. that's his priorities, and he'd rather do it with republicans joining him, but you always need a back-up plan to make sure that you can follow through on those commitments ultimately. i think it's important to have plan a, as well as plan b. >> congressman chris van hollen, thanks for your time. >> thank you. the daily fix is next, and we'll tell you which of the republican senators will be having dinner with the president tonight. plus, live pictures of the fili-blizzard still going on. rand paul says he will speak until he can no longer speak. who knows how long that will be? he's filibustering john brennan's nomination as cia director. and stay with us for more on the storm hitting the east coast. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. and developing now, we are staying with it. this is live pictures here of the safeway supermarket in

tucson, arizona, where gabrielle giffords and other survivors have gathered where she was shot to call on congress to enact stricter gun laws. >> you know, gabby, gabby inspires me each and every day. every single day. often as she heads off to therapy, one of the things she says to me is -- >> fight, fight, fight. >> she reminds me each and every day to deny the acceptance of failure. well, gabby has a message for not only senator flake and senator mccain, but all members of congress. i'm going to turn the podium over to my wonderful wife, gabby giffords. [ applause ] >> be bold.

be courageous. please support background checks. thank you very much. >> thank you, everybody. thank you for coming. >> thank you. >> i think we have time for just a few questions. i know there's a lot of you, so if we don't get to everyone, please, find us. you know how you can do that. first question. >> reporter: have you spoken to senators mccain or flake about background kmeks? >> we will be right back on "andrea mitchell reports." first kid you ready? [ female announcer ] second kid by their second kid, every mom is an expert and more likely to choose luvs. after thousands of diaper changes, they know what works. luvs lock away wetness better than huggies for a fraction of the cost live, learn, & get luvs.

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in the daily fix today, so what's on the menu with tonight's get together with president obama and senate republicans? kristen welker is at the white house and nbc's kelly o'donnell is on capitol hill.

before we get to the meeting, kelly, i want to talk to you, john boehner sat down for an interview. i want to play what he said about the government shutdown. let's come back and talk about it. >> our goal here is to cut spending. it's not to shut down the government, and keeping the government open after march 27th is our goal. the president the other day indicated his willingness and desire to see the government funded after march 27th, so i'm hopeful the senate democrats will work with us to make sure there's no threat of government shutdown. >> so, kelly, we're going to get a vote later in the hour on this continuing resolution to fund the government through the house. what are the next steps here, walk us through the sort of how legislatively this is going to work, if it's going to work. >> well, you can almost hear the violins playing, chris, because there does seem to be more conciliatory tone all around. it seems both parties know a

government shutdown threat is a loser for everyone, so they are trying to get out in front of this with instead of hours to go, a few weeks to go before the actual deadline, when the official budget they are currently operating under expires. they want to try to get this through today, hurrying it up because of the winter storm that has clouded the capitol, as well as my throat, and they are trying to get this through to take some of the pressure off. so, sequestration continues, but then it gives them some more time to try to look at common ground. democrats, certainly, are not liking what the sequester cuts are doing. they are more resistant to this, but republicans who had been saying make it a government shutdown, that rallying cry from just weeks ago has really dissipated and now it's much more about let's move forward in a more organized way. let's try to get something done that will keep the public on the side of congress, as well as trying to look at from the republican point of view, their goals of getting some spending cuts down. democrats, of course, say they want spending cuts, but they

want it done in a more even handed, more balanced way. they'd like to see some new tax revenues. you know republicans are not going for that right now, but some of the temperature has been turned down a bit, it would seem. >> now, potentially a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day, but kristen welker, tonight president obama having dinner with almost a dozen republican senators. can you tell us, i don't need you to rattle off all of them, but tell us a few, if we have any indication of why they were the ones picked and what, if anything, comes of this or is this a symbolic gesture of turning the temperature down a bit? >> certainly, it is symbolic of turning the temperature down, and it's worth noting senator lindsey graham put this list together. we have a graphic, i believe, of those who will be attending this evening. these are the senators who have been identified really as showing some sort of willingness to listen to compromise. richard burr, tom coburn, pat

toomey, to name just a few of those who will be at the dinner tonight. in terms of what gets accomplished, i don't expect a deal from a grand bargain, but, look, there's no ticking time bomb. there is no stark deadline that they are trying to meet for a fiscal fight, which is really different from what we have seen in past weeks. so this really gives them the opportunity to have some type of conversation on these issues that have so starkly divided them. as you point out, it comes against the backdrop of president obama not reaching out enough to lawmakers on the hill, and also against the backdrop of house speaker john boehner saying he's not planning to negotiate with president obama moving forward. so, there is some hope this will begin to move the conversation forward. president obama will be on the hill next week, and my sources here at the white house say that we can continue to expect to see this type of outreach from the

president. chris? >> perhaps the beginning of a beginning happening tonight at the jefferson hotel. we showed the picture of it. that is in downtown washington. that is where president obama will dine with the senators, kelly, kristen, thank you both. >> thanks, chris. slightly less kumbaya note, eric holder was on capitol hill this morning testifying before the senate judiciary committee on his agency's policies on controversial matters from guns to drones. one person who won't be at the dinner tonight, republican senator ted cruz. >> does the constitution allow a u.s. citizen on u.s. soil that doesn't impose a imminent threat to be killed by the u.s. government? >> i do not believe that -- again, you have to look at all of the facts, but the facts you have given me, and this is a hypothetical, i would not think in that situation a use of a drone or lethal force would be appropriate. >> general holder, i have to

tell you, i find it remarkable that in that hypothetical that is deliberately very simple, you are unable to give a one word, one syllable answer no. >> justice correspondent and the pride of wyoming pete williams joins me now. pete, as sort of a wait a minute moment in all this talk of outreach and kumbaya and people coming together, was this a legitimate disagreement between ted cruz and eric holder over drone policy, or was this a little bit for the cameras? >> well, they actually ended up agreeing. basically, attorney general said no, it would not be constitutional. no member of the committee said they thought it would never be appropriate or constitutional to use a drone strike against a u.s. citizen on american soil. that's the issue here. what the attorney general said today, as far as he's concerned, it's entirely, entirely, used the word twice, hypothetical. he said if you use drones

overseas, you're doing it where someone is a threat where you can't get to them, can't capture them. here in the u.s. you can always get to them. you can always capture them. there can be a law enforcement operation. now, lindsey graham said i fully support the administration's opinion on drones overseas and suppose we had patriot missiles available, a military solution on 9/11, we would have taken those planes out, yes, we would have lost the lives on the plane, but saved the lives in the building. sometimes you can't rule out the military, even in the u.s., and he and holder agree on that. as i say, no member of the judiciary committee today where he was testifying completely said no, we shouldn't use drones in the u.s. against an american citizen. >> there's some people holding up signs protesting drones, there's a contingent of people that believe it immoral, yet in every public poll, this is the

rare thing which partisans tend to agree, 60%, 70% support the use of drones to get suspected terrorists. how much do the politics of this play in, pete, that politicians are well aware that this is a policy that is wildly popular in the country. in terms of developing strictures and further rules and asking for more information? >> i think that may be part of it, but this is something that doesn't go along party lines, really. dianne feinstein said i want to see more of the actual memos of the government wrote. not the summary that became public, but the actual memos themselves. holder said today, he gave every indication members ought to see it and he said the president in the next couple of weeks will be making some kind of public statement about this. clearly, administration feels the need to better explain what it's doing here. >> look forward to hearing it. pete williams, thank you. >> you bet.

picking a new pope. slowly but surely cardinals from around the world are convening in rome. we're live there next when the secret papal conclave might begin. and we're keeping a close eye on the weather as it worsens all across the east coast. at a hertz expressrent kiosk, you can rent a car without a reservation... and without a line. now that's a fast car. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. bjorn earns unlimited rewards for his small business. take these bags to room 12 please. [ garth ] bjorn's small business earns double miles on every purchase every day. produce delivery. [ bjorn ] just put it on my spark card. [ garth ] why settle for less? ahh, oh! [ garth ] great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. here's your wake up call. [ male announcer ] get the spark business card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards. choose double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase every day. what's in your wallet? [ crows ] now where's the snooze button? [ crows ] ♪

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scarecrow in the wind... a baboon... monkey? hot stew saturday!? ronny: hey jimmy, how happy are folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico? jimmy: happier than paul revere with a cell phone. ronny: why not? anncr: get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. cardinals met again at the vatican this morning, but they are still waiting for two more voting members to arrive before they can begin the process to elect a new pope. nbc's anne thompson is at the vatican. anne, what is the latest? >> reporter: well, chris, the cardinal from poland should be in tonight, and then we're just waiting for a cardinal from vietnam and he's supposed to be here tomorrow night. so, as a result, there's still no start date for the conclave. that's when the cardinals actually go in and start to vote on the new pope. but the biggest piece of news that's really causing a buzz around here is a clamp down by the vatican on cardinals

speaking to the media. one of the things that's been different today compared to 2005 is that at least among the american cardinals there's been a feeling of much more openness. this week they have held daily press briefings. they have talked about everything, such as the qualities they want in the next pope. the issues that the next pope has to address. cardinal francis george of chicago said he has to continually address the problem of clergy sex abuse. they've talked about what's going on in the meetings without violating their oaths of secrecy. in fact, it's been the hottest ticket in town here for the journalists, there are some 5,000 of them, covering the lead up to the conclave, and everybody has gone to the american briefings, because you're hearing from the men who are going to elect the next pope. well, today the vatican said no more talking to the press, in part because of leaks to the italian press. it's not american's fault, but others are telling tales out of school. so now nobody can talk, chris.

>> fascinating story. thanks for being there, anne. and we are live at the center of the storm next. plus, did the dutchess of cambridge accidently let the gender of her baby slip? they are buzzing about it in britain. and speaking of across the pond, check out these photos of amateur photographer andrea mitchell and secretary of state john kerry. they are on their way back from doha, but they made a quick stop to refuel in ireland, where andrea sent us these pics. follow us online on twitter. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. vers? yeah. yeah. then how'd i get this... [ voice of dennis ] ...allstate safe driving bonus check? what is that? [ normal voice ] so weird, right? my agent, tom, said... [ voice of dennis ] ...only allstate sends you a bonus check for every six months you're accident-free... [ normal voice ] ...but i'm a woman. maybe it's a misprint. does it look like a misprint? ok. what i was trying... [ voice of dennis ] silence. ♪

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[ sneezing ] she may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec®. powerful allergy relief for adults and kids six years and older. zyrtec®. love the air. here in washington, hugo chavez is being remembered for some of his more colorful outbursts against the u.s. government, like the tame back in '06 when he equated george w. bush to the devil himself. >> translator: yesterday, the devil came here. right here.

right here. and it smells of sulfur still today. >> joining me now, steve clemons and jose ballart. steve, yes, he gets a lot of attention for calling george bush a devil, but what is the legacy of hugo chavez? >> hugo chavez is a revolutionary. he turned venezuelan society upsidedown. he wanted to be -- he identified himself as a socialist, but he put a real edge to it. he knocked out really the elite leadership and frankly many of the competent leaders in venezuelan society and tried to empower a different group of people, made wrenching changes. to some degree he's become a real hero of the underclass, not only in venezuela, but the world. >> the white house did react to this. i want to put that up. they said at this challenging time of hugo chavez's passing,

the united states reaffirms the venezuelan people and its interest in reconstructing the venezuelan government. there will be an election in 30 days. what's both the political and sort of the broader global place of venezuela? what does the future look like? >> boy, that's a great question, and chris, you know what steve said defining hugo chavez, i think, is right on target. the question is now, what is a post-chavez venezuela going to look like, and it depends who you talk to how they think things are going to turn out. but when you have a institution that's been created -- armed forces, civil society, financial society, you know, venezuela is only the second opec country, latin america opec country. hundreds of thousands of barrels come to the united states from venezuela. when you have a man who for 14 years was able to change the entire structure of a country,

now that he's gone, the people that he left to try and keep his regime afloat have really 30 days to tie things up. and the opposition has 30 days to try and convince voters that this time it will be a free and fair election and that they can really give another perspective to a country that, for the past 14 years, has really been immersed in a gut wrenching division of society, as steve was talking about. >> and jose, you make a really important point that i think we should explore more, steve, which is this, the reign of hugo chavez was made around hugo chavez the person. >> this is a personality. this is a real-world version of avita. this is a passing of someone, you can see it in the streets, their love for that man is genuine. what's strange is most thought

we'd have chavez messing with us for a long time. he looked at himself as the heir to castro, and who would have taken a bet that fidel castro would outlive hugo chavez? the point is, it is a culpable personality around him, and what jose just said is absolutely right. the opposition has been planning for this moment in venezuela. they are much better organized than one would have thought otherwise. but the vice president who is very likely to basically take the helm for chavez is also prepared, but he's also said he's expelled two u.s. diplomats, and he's saying some scary things about chavez implanting the idea chavez was poisoned or this was caused by the west. there are interesting challenges to us that are important. >> jose, one other thing, to steven your point, how does in 30 days, how does the vice president pick up -- we think of it as sort of, well, barack

obama's the president now and joe biden is vice president. but this is much more about hugo chavez than it is about a party structure, correct? >> yeah. this is much more akin to franco's spain that we've seen, parone in argentina. certainly, more based on that than on any kind of concept of western democracy as we understand it. but the fact is, i was in caracas on the 7th of october when the elections were held, the initial polls from the voting booths showed the opposition leader winning in many places, and that was quickly reversed. i'm not saying that it wasn't fair. i'm just saying that the polls showed one thing and then the results about 11:00 showed chavez was winning. so, he's had the reins of power for many, many years.

$1 trillion has been put in the country by petroleum sales since he's been in power. there's a lot of money the government controls that cannot only give houses to those poor that never had a house in the past, but also can help grease a lot of wheels that need to be greased. far different than in the countries we know and regularly speak about. >> the largest natural oil reserves in the world in venezuela. jose diaz, steve clemons, thank you both for the expertise. i feel smarter. >> thank you. >> thanks. back now to the storm hitting the east coast. drivers are starting to face the same problems that the midwest experienced earlier in the week, piles of snow that road crews can't keep up with are making for dangerous conditions out there. in chicago, a roof collapsed under the weight of all that wet snow. luckily, no one was hurt. the weather channel's reynolds wolf joins me live from virginia where it's a very different

looking picture, reynolds, than it is here inside the beltway. tell us why. >> well, one of the big reasons why is because if you go to the beltway, if you go in washington, d.c., it's a tidal basin. many times you have the influence of the atlantic ocean and you have warm air at the surface. however, say i-66 was perfect driving conditions without any traffic, about an hour away out here to the west, we've got snow everywhere. you look behind me, and let me tell you, man, this america is basically front royal, march 6th, 2013. you have a world change with some spots over a foot of snowfall and we expect more. so, the big difference is the cold air here, more mild air in d.c. it is snowy slush. take a look at this for a second. i'm going to get back here and pile up some of the snowfall. man, you could make a snow

bowling ball out of this. this is about the size of a thanksgiving turkey that you have here. it's perfect for making snow balls. snot so much for skiing and certainly not so much in terms of driving. but in terms of driving, there have been some cars behind the camera on route -- actually, winchester road and along parts of 66, people have been out and about. no road closures for the time being, but still plenty of accidents and people are told if they can avoid getting on the roads, by all means do so. viewers across america can see flakes moving across the screen, could see another four inches of snow before the event is done here in the blue ridge. let's send it back to you. >> reynolds, great minds think alike. when you pile up the snow, my 12-year-old self thought that's great snowball making snow. thank you. >> absolutely. did the dutchess of cambridge slip up and reveal the sex of her baby when handed a teddy bear in london yesterday, she made this response, and you need to listen closely.

>> did you say my daughter? oh, no, no, no, no. i'm sure, i'm sure. we don't know yet. >> it was hard to hear, but she reportedly said, thank you, i'll take that for my -- then what sounded like a "d" sound. the well wisher said, did you say daughter? the duchess said, no, no, no, we don't know. kate is due this summer when all of this will be known, and we will be right back. [ jackie ] it's just so frustrating... ♪ the middle of this special moment and i need to run off to the bathroom. ♪ i'm fed up with always having to put my bladder's needs ahead of my daughter.

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big time taste should fit in a little time cup. new single serve cafe collections from maxwell house now available for use in the keurig k-cup brewer. always good to the last drop. it's still 1,343 days until the 2016 election, but who's counting? me. well, some gop hopefuls certainly are. the frontrunners are already staking their claim to the path they hope to take straight to the white house. >> the question is, how do you win with purpose and meaning that allows you to have a chance to win in the general election? >> we've got to stop being the

stupid party. and i'm serious. it's time for a new republican party that talks like dilts. >> i don't give a damn about election day. it doesn't matter a lick to me at the moment. i've got much bigger fish to fry than that. >> obama care takes $716 billion from medicare to spend on obama care. even their own chief at medicare backs this up. >> had i been president at the time and i found that you did not read the cables from benghazi, i would have relieved you of your post. >> joining me now for a look at the potential 2016 candidates and what lane they are running in, two of my favorite people, amy walter and maggie haberman with politico. i'm taking a host license here and wrote a piece about the lanes you can establish. let's talk about them. i have in the establishment lane, i have jeb bush. in the reformer lane, i have bobby gindle and chris christie.

in the wonk lane, newt gingrich lane, paul ryan, and in the conservative lane, rand paul. now, amy, let's talk about this. yes, it's a long time before the election, but yes, they are carving out sort of how they are going to run and how they want to be perceived, right? >> they are, except everybody now wants to be in the outsider lane, i would argue. they can be wonky, outsider, nobody wants the label of establishment because of the baggage that it carries, even though we know jeb bush is the establishment in the sense that's where the smart money wants to go. >> interesting chris christie wanting to be the what's going on in washington candidate. maggie, amy makes the right point, you don't want to be the establishment candidate, but jeb bush has no choice. he's been aggressive in making clear where he wants the party to go and he wants to be a part of it. >> he has been. that's surprising, indeed, the

fact he's making clear he is interested. people around him, i think, would argue, albeit privately, that's not what he was going for. whether it's true or not, he's in it now. amy is right, he has no choice but to basically be the establishment person. he is a bush, he is going to be the person where not just smart money, but a lot of money would like to go. the person outside the establishment cred is rand paul. chris christie has it to some extent, but chris christie also has to get through his election. everything is going to be geared toward that for the time being. >> maggie, you could be hosting this, because i needed my segue. i'm fascinated with rand paul. he's on the floor of the senate filibustering for some period of time the john brennan nomination, although we expect john brennan will. he is still going, energizer bunny, says he will talk until he can talk no more. >> until the snow flakes stop

falling. >> or start falling. the question he is voting the establishment republican. we talked about this a lot. people kept asking why is rangd paul still running and how come he still i raises this money. that campaign apparatus and all that was around with rand paul and whatever we want to call that world is theoretically going to be transferred to rand paul. two things. one, i want to be the real outsider if i am running for president this next year. i don't care how much you rail against the establishment. if you have senator or congressman in front of your

name, you are part of the destruction. >> i want to ask you about someone close to where you are in new york. chris christie. i think aimy is right. he doesn't have senator or rep before his name. he never has run for the offices. he certainly is making the case in press conferences and railed on john boehner and talking about what's wrong with washington. is he the outsider guy and do i have him mislabeled? >> no, because he always said when he was a new governor, i don't demagogue immigration and demagogue is his word. she a former u.s. attorney and the way he approaches things. my colleague did a story about how a lot of people are hoping that a governor and the bright spots for the republican party last year that a governor will emerge as a star in 2016. chris christie would be foremost and jindal supporters know he is. that's where you are going in terms of not having a senator and congressman and washington

attached to you. >> can i ask you quickly, what lane am i missing? is there a lane that i am missing that someone can occupy? >> what lane do democrats? the one thing that republicans have going for them, i will put a shameless plug for a column i did. six times a party has won the white house and only once have they won a third term. >> this is very, very difficult. for every one of those, george h.w. bush. thank you both for making the time. we'll be right back. ry year. go to e-trade and find out how much our advice and guidance costs. spoiler alert: it's low. it's guidance on your terms, not ours. e-trade. less for us. more for you. will restore even skin tone? think again. introducing olay professional even skin tone. developed by experts in skin genomics to target 5 major causes of uneven skin tone and help restore even color.

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>> that does it for this edition much "andrea mitchell reports." >>, chris. thank you for your hour. senator rand paul is on hour three of the filibuster against nomination for john brennan over

the u.s. drone program and eric holder's refusal ruling out using drones on americans. we will have what he had to say and live from capitol hill e the rand stand is what they are calling it. while that man's storm is brewing, we are following a massive winter storm that shut down most of d.c. more than 4,000 flights cancel and 120,000 people without power in virginia. we will have the latest on the storm and we track it as it moves through new england and thousands lining the streets of venezuela for the faun rule procession for the leader hugo chavez, remembered as a man who divided the nation and a champion for the poor. all coming up next on "news nation." we loaded it with fast food, sweaty hockey gear, and a smelly dog cage. and parked it at a mall. in texas. for two days. then put a febreze car vent clip on the dash and let in real people. it smells good. like laundry fresh out of like the dryer.

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